Horseshoe Basin and Windy Peak Pasayten

Chopaka Mountain, Washington

You can easily spend weeks exploring this magical high basin in a corner of the sprawling Pasayten Wilderness. Situated in the eastern extremes of the North Cascades, where the sun generously shares its warming rays, Horseshoe Basin is usually hikeable before the summer solstice. But don’t discount fall, when Horseshoe’s mosquitoes are on hiatus and golden larches warm the basin with their soft glow.

You can easily spend weeks exploring this magical high basin in a corner of the sprawling Pasayten Wilderness. Situated in the eastern extremes of the North Cascades, where the sun generously shares its warming rays, Horseshoe Basin is usually hikeable before the summer solstice. But don’t discount fall, when Horseshoe’s mosquitoes are on hiatus and golden larches warm the basin with their soft glow.